Our mission

Building Better Athletes for Sport and Life

Agility

Power

Strength

Speed

Injury risk reduction

The ADAPT training system is designed to build a better athlete from the ground up, with progressions that span athletic development from ages 7-18. Early progressions focus on learning how to move efficiently while increasing strength and speed, so the athlete is equipped to play a variety of sports. Advanced progressions focus on preparing for the demands of specific sports and overcoming each athlete’s limitations.

The ADAPT Difference

by Mike Curtis

For the past fifteen years, my life and passion has been dedicated to preparing athletes for sport. My professional journey has afforded me the opportunity to train athletes from all skill levels, backgrounds, and sports. I’ve trained NBA all-stars, collegiate soccer All-Americans, little league standouts, and the weekend warrior who has simply wanted to be the best guy on his city league team. In training all of those athletes, there has been a common theme in terms of their readiness to perform at a high level. All of them lacked a solid foundation of fundamental movement abilities to anchor their physical capacities. In other words, they all lacked a solid training history where they had been exposed to quality training methodology and logical progression.

All of these athletes were ticking time bombs and/or under performers! They all lacked something in regards to their physical readiness that either led to under performance in their sport or competitive activities—and in most cases was leading them down a path to acute or overuse injury and a never-ending pain cycle due to poor efficiency of movement. For some years now I have wanted to try to find a way to create a system that would allow for all athletes, especially those at an early age, to engage in a training process that would allow them to move more efficiently and decrease injuries. The ADAPT training system is that system.

The ADAPT mission is to physically prepare its athlete-clients for high performance on game day. That means providing a training program and environment that develops the physical qualities necessary to execute sport-related skills with greater speed, power, and precision than your opponent. The ADAPT paradigm is centered on building an overall better athlete, not training specifically for a single sport. Our primary objective is for those athletes who complete the ADAPT program to exhibit dramatic improvement in their abilities to sprint, jump, change direction, prolong resistance to fatigue, exhibit durability, and focus in the clutch. These are all outcomes that allow athletes to choose their own sport and dominate it because they are better prepared than their counterparts.

I am excited to share with you a training system that I hope will make you change your approach to fitness and preparing for sport. At ADAPT, we will assess and profile your potential weaknesses, create a PLAN to address your rate limiters, then PREPARE you in our systematic training to ensure that you PERFORM optimally on game day. ADAPT athletes “train”—they don’t “work out”—because training transcends one day of sweat. It is a process that drives behaviors and commitment to getting better each and every day.

The interaction of these six components is crucial in the process of building a better athlete.

Athlete Profiling

Athlete profiling is the process of screening and assessing the orthopedic and performance related physical qualities of the athlete in order to develop programming and strategies centered on injury risk reduction and increased performance.

Movement Preparation

Movement preparation focuses on preparing the athlete to engage in training or competition through education and application of soft tissue techniques, static/dynamic flexibility, proprioception/balance, and neural activation. This component also includes specialized corrective strategies based on injury risk identified in the orthopedic screening process.

Movement Training

Strength Training

Strength focuses on developmentally appropriate means of developing strength. Strength comes in many varieties, strength relative to your bodyweight, strength endurance, explosive strength, and absolute strength are some types of strength necessary for sport. Based on training history, genetics, injury history, and in advanced levels on sport demands and training program will be developed and implemented to enhance the physical qualities necessary for sporting performance.

Energy Systems Development

Energy system development focuses on conditioning the athlete for the cardiovascular and peripheral demands of the sport. Foundationally athletes will be trained to increase their aerobic capacity in order to facilitate recovery and sustain repetitive effort typical in field and court based sports. Advanced progressions will focus on methods specific to the demands of the respective sport or limitations of the athlete.

Recovery-Adaption

Recovery-Adaptation focuses on education and applied behaviors that facilitate recovery and regeneration from the stress of training and competition. This includes education on post-training or competition nutrition, hydration, stretching, and rest.

Our Services

Offseason, preseason, and inseason training programs

Speed and power testing using laser timing system and electronic vertical jump mat for team and individual measures

Speed and power clinics and performance testing combines

Train at any of our 3 affiliate locations in the Charlottesville area or we can meet you at a location of your choosing

Mike Curtis

Creator of the ADAPT sports performance training system, is a Division I head strength and conditioning coach. He previously was head strength and conditioning coach for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies for six years.

Coach Curtis, who is from Richmond, earned a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from the University of Virginia is 1998 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from UVA in 2000. He was formerly a basketball player at the University of Virginia. He lettered four times as a member of the Cavaliers’ men’s basketball team and was a team co-captain for the 1997-98 season.

Peter Alston

The Director of Sports Performance for the ADAPT program. Before returning to Charlottesville, Alston assisted the D.C. United Physical Preparation staff in Major League Soccer. He served as an intern for the University of Virginia Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams from 2012-2014 while in graduate school. In this role he worked under Mike Curtis, founder and developer of the ADAPT program, and learned the intricacies of the training philosophy that Alston now implements in the sports performance program at ADAPT.

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Alston graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and in Politics. He earned his Master’s degree in Kinesiology – Exercise Physiology from the University of Virginia in 2014.

Alston was a placekicker for the Washington and Lee University football team from 2008 to 2012. He recovered from several major surgeries early in his career and went on to set multiple school records

Kenny Szabo

Growing up in a military family, Kenny Szabo lived in several states growing up, but spent most of his time living in Virginia. Kenny graduated from Bridgewater College in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science while being named a Team Captain and earning All-Conference honors as a Bridgewater College football player. For graduate school, Kenny attended the University of Akron and obtained a double master’s degree in exercise physiology and sports administration. During his time at Akron, Kenny also taught undergraduate classes and coached high school football.

Throughout his professional experience, Kenny has worked with athletes ranging from the youth to professional level and has gained experience with 24 different collegiate sports. Outside of athletics, Kenny has provided training in 1 on 1, small group, and large group settings to people of all ages. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA and a certified personal trainer through ACSM.

While working for ADAPT, he will also be a coaching assistant for the University of Virginia football team’s human performance and logistics program.

Kelsey Wolfe

A native of Germantown, Maryland, Kelsey Wolfe graduated from the University of Virginia in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. She was on the University of Virginia Women’s Basketball team from 2010 to 2014 and served as one of the three captains during her senior year. She is returning back to Charlottesville after playing professionally in Ireland for a season and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Kinesiology- Exercise Physiology at the University of Virginia.

While working for the ADAPT program, she will also be a graduate assistant for the University of Virginia Men’s and Women’s basketball team helping with their strength and conditioning, working under Mike Curtis, founder and developer of the ADAPT program.